The Evolution of the Survival Horror Genre

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Memories, like the blood-stained colours of my mind...

By Clara Barraza

There's something special about being on the edge of your seat, realising you need to change your underwear for the second time in an hour and trying to remind yourself (unconvincingly) that it's just a game. I mean, what kind of sissy would be scared of a game?

As it turns out, a lot of us. And more to the point -- we like it. The horror genre, more specifically survival horror, has delivered an array of classic titles and, like a fine wine, has matured to near perfection. With the upcoming releases of horror titles such as EA's Dead Space and Konami's Silent Hill: Homecoming and Capcom's Resident Evil 5, we thought it would only be fitting to take you on a spine-tingling trip down memory lane and revisit some of the most memorable breakthroughs in horror; from its scaringly humble beginnings to its bloodcurdling golden age. So grab your fluffiest teddy bear, a spare set of undies, plug in that night-light and let the terror begin:

It would be a right slap in the face of the entire genre if we weren't to pay some well-deserved respect to the great grand-daddy of gaming terror. In hindsight, setting it at an American university is creepy in itself -- which just goes to show education doesn't pay, but that's not the half of it. It's not surprising if you aren't familiar with this dusty classic, but if you never get to play it, you should at least know it by name.

In a time of text-based games, The Lurking Horror managed to do what no other had done before it -- generate some serious emotion and dread into the gamers' experience. Regardless of all its limitations and modest DOS-Prompt beginnings, it paved the way for the games we love to fear today and managed some good frights in the process. Its big claim to fame was the fact it was among the first games to make use of musical stings and creepy sound effects, perfectly timed at the height of tension, to make you jump out of your seat.

There's something so unwholesome about a lonely old mansion owned by a recently deceased relative... especially when it's crawling with the demons of the underworld. Sure, looking back at it now the graphics are crummy at best, but it was the first 3D survival horror game, and set the bar for a new gaming experience.

It gave us the staples that modern survival horror games can't do without (with the exception of recent action/horror hybrids) -- limited inventory, puzzle solving and the idea of emphasising survival over combat. In fact, many of the monsters encountered in Alone in the Dark can't be killed and need to be dealt with using your problem solving abilities. Apart from what it brought to the style, Alone in the Dark taught us that if we have a distant relative who owns a creepy, elaborate mansion somewhere in Louisiana -- just bloody well sell the damn thing.

It is not unnatural to associate gaming horror with its Japanese dominance; Clock Tower is just one of those examples. Once again we find ourselves in a lonely old mansion eagerly awaiting some freaky action. I mean, when four orphaned girls are taken in by a rich recluse alarm bells really should start ringing. Similarly to Alone in the Dark, the game enforces the idea of flight over fight. The game's protagonist, Jennifer, is constantly having to run away from confrontation instead of dealing with it through combat, and overall the game is very effective.

Even as a point-and-click adventure it's paced quite well and you'll find yourself getting pretty nervous at the eerie tension of the calm before the storm as you await the next appearance of the game's villain, the Scissorman. The tension of being stalked is what holds the key to all the big scares -- not too shabby for a game that consists of mostly running and hiding. Clock Tower also credits itself with being one of the pioneers of multiple endings.

What Alone in the Dark catalysed was arguably perfected in the Resident Evil series, resulting in what is now known as the modern survival horror game. Resident Evil not only helped define the genre, but brought it into the mainstream. Sure, it has some of the worst dialogue witnessed in gaming, but considering this was back in the mid 90s when overacting was as popular as Hypercolour t-shirts, it can be forgiven.

In addition to the staples of survival horror, it also introduced some more action into the mix, allowing the gamer to relieve some of that underlying tension -- of course, this was always short lived and before you knew it you were back to scrounging around for ammo and running from brain-hungry fiends. Ignoring the B-movie dialogue and badly dated graphics (which, it must be said, looked pretty decent at the time), the game is undoubtedly a classic and the poster-child for survival horror.

If the gaming horror library was an art exhibition, then Silent Hill would be its Mona Lisa. A complete masterpiece and now considered by many as the epitome of survival horror, it's not surprising Silent Hill was highly acclaimed on its release, and continued to impress with its sequels. The product of an extremely dedicated team of developers, it turned a seemingly fluffed-out genre into a game with considerable substance and depth. The story behind Silent Hill is altogether very complex and heavy, making the game captivating for the player as they delve further into it -- something so simple and frightening in itself like losing a child is matured into an incredibly confronting and at many times confusing web of storytelling.

Silent Hill banked on its strong emphasis on creating an unsettling atmosphere as opposed to the startle-frights of its predecessors. Your surroundings are really what make the game petrifying at first play, such as the ever present fog -- once used as a way to hide the technical shortcomings of the hardware and graphics -- to hide what lurks behind it and keep you constantly tense throughout the game. Did it work? Did it ever.